ASP support in future versions of IIS

[Mike Miller]

I did a search for any posts on the topic of ASP and the future support model
for it within IIS. I see a lot of speculation based on current use, etc.,
but let's not forget that Visual Basic 6.0 is a dead product - regardless of
how many people are still using it. Let us also not forget that Microsoft
changed some core syntax of C++ (actually C) that had been in place for 30+
years.

Anyway, can anyone point me to any official Microsoft documentation that
outlines the lifecycle for ASP or a good roadmap for IIS? I tried
http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/search/, but it is not there since ASP
is not technically a product.

Thanks.

 

[Aaron Bertrand [SQL Server MVP]]

but let's not forget that Visual Basic 6.0 is a dead product - regardless

of
how many people are still using it.

But this is all about whether to use it or not; what other definition is
there? If I have Visual Basic 6.0 installed on my system, do I care about
anything external to my environment if I need to whip up a simple app or
dll? Microsoft's support lifecycle certainly isn't going to prevent me from
doing it.

Anyway, can anyone point me to any official Microsoft documentation that
outlines the lifecycle for ASP or a good roadmap for IIS? I tried
http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/search/, but it is not there since
ASP
is not technically a product.

I don't think you're going to find a timeline for ASP specifically. ASP is
part of IIS, and IIS is a component of the operating system, so the
lifecycle of a specific operating system (e.g. Windows XP) dictates the
lifecycle of the version of ASP that shipped with it (e.g. IIS 5.1 / ASP
3.0).

 

[Mike Miller]

I agree, but my point is that Microsoft doesn't necessarily take the size of
the user base into account when they "innovate." Look at 16 bit to 32 bit,
Visual Basic 6, the removal of While ,Wend (granted, they never actually took
that one out), the Sun suit over modifications to the Java standard, the
modifications to C++ syntax, non-compliance with JSR 168, etc, etc.

Granted, this doesn't necessary have anything to do with whether they will
remove support for ASP - it is, after all, a static code base that they just
need to leave in there. My point is that I do not have much confidence in
Microsoft's commitment to backward compatibility, particularly when they have
not been as successfull as they had hoped in garnering support for .NET.

You are absolutely right about the support lifecycle pertaining specifically
to products - not features of products. I am just hoping to find some
official commitment from them about whether they will either sustain or dump
ASP. My company has miles and miles of the stuff all over our web site.

This isn't necessarily a huge issue since I have at least two to three years
of guaranteed, mainstream support left.

 

[Mike Miller]

By the way, what products are you all using for ASP development? Are you
still using Interdev or have you switched to something else?

Thanks

 

[Aaron Bertrand [SQL Server MVP]]

I use Visual Studio 2005.

 

[Bob Barrows [MVP]]

By the way, what products are you all using for ASP development? Are
you still using Interdev or have you switched to something else?

Depending on which machine I'm on I either use Interdev or VS 2005

 

[Mike Miller]

Hmm. I guess I didn't do my homework on this one - I just downloaded it at
home a couple weeks ago and spent a few hours playing around in it. I didn't
know you could use VS 2005 for plain old ASP.

Do you have IDE support (auto complete, etc)? What kind of project do you
create?

 

[Bob Barrows [MVP]]

Yes, everything works. My only beef is its insistence on popping up a
warning that the website is not configured for .Net when you open a
classic asp website.

 

[Aaron Bertrand [SQL Server MVP]]

I don't really use any of the frilly stuff. Basically, I just open a set of
ASP files and use it as a text editor with benefits.

 

[Mike Brind]

Not having done any VB, I've never really used any if the Visual*
products. Dreamweaver 8 for me.

 

[Jeff Cochran]

Anyway, can anyone point me to any official Microsoft documentation that

outlines the lifecycle for ASP or a good roadmap for IIS? I tried
http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/search/, but it is not there since ASP
is not technically a product.

There is no road map for ASP, or even a life cycle. Future
development has been suspended as of version 3.0. Support for ASP is
in Vista/Lomghorn, and the life cycle for that is at least five years,
so the future of ASP is at least 2/3 the length of its past.

Jeff